Child Maltreatment

Incidence

In 2004, child protective agencies investigated approximately 3,503,000 children for maltreatment. Nearly 872,000 of these reports were substantiated. The majority of these children experienced neglect (62.4%), followed by physical abuse (17.5%), sexual abuse (9.7%), psychological abuse (7%), and medical neglect (2.1%). There is often overlap in these cases: For example, most children who are physically abused also experience neglect. In addition, 14.5% of victims experienced abandonment, threats of harm, or congenital drug addiction. Children under the age of 4 were most vulnerable for severe injury or death: 81% of the 1,490 children who died of maltreatment in 2004 were in this age group.

Approximately 54% of all victims in 2004 were Caucasian, followed by African American (25.2%) and Hispanic children (17%). African American, Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native children had the highest rates of victimization at 19.9, 17.6, and 15.5, respectively, per 1,000 children of their own race. Caucasian, Hispanic, and Asian children had rates of approximately 10.7,10.4, and 2.9, respectively, per 1,000 children of their own race.

Definitions

Generally, child maltreatment is differentiated into acts of omission and acts of commission, with the former describing neglect and the latter abuse. Neglect is the failure to provide for a child's basic needs and includes physical, emotional, medical, mental health, and educational neglect. Examples include parents or caretakers failing to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or supervision; refusal to seek or delay in seeking medical or mental health care that has been prescribed or highly recommended; abandonment; permission to engage in chronic truancy; inattention to special educational needs; domestic abuse in the child's presence; or permission for the child to abuse drugs or alcohol. It is important to distinguish between willful neglect and failure to provide caused by poverty. It is also critical to consider cultural norms [Page 70]Child Maltreatment and for professionals to develop cultural competence when working with families.

Abuse includes an injury done to a child or acts that could cause physical injury. Abuse can be psychological, physical, and sexual, although these commonly overlap: A child who is sexually abused is often physically and psychologically abused as well.

The term psychological maltreatment is a broader term than emotional abuse. It includes behaviors that could cause serious behavioral, cognitive, and emotional disorders. Examples include spurning, terrorizing, isolating, exploiting, and denying emotional responsiveness to a child. Behaviors might include constant belittling and rejecting of a child, or bizarre forms of punishment, such as locking a child in a closet.

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